Imagine your bellwether program stepping into a modern search arena with a glossy tri-fold and a storied reputation, ready to battle any challenger. Across the ring rolls a robotic rival as “The Imperial March” blares over the speakers. The ref signals start; a blinding spotlight from the robot makes your program vanish from view. The…
Read MoreIntroduction At the 2025 UPCEA Annual Conference, the session “Owning Your Awesomeness” reminded us that professional growth isn’t just about mastering skills—it’s about recognizing and amplifying the unique strengths we already have. For leaders and practitioners in professional and online education this means embracing both the outward image we present and the inner narratives that…
Read MoreMost of us in higher education are now familiar with generative AI bots, where you formulate a prompt and get a reply. Yet, we are now beginning the advancement to agentic AI, the autonomous 24-7 project manager. The dramatic enhancement in the capability of AI as it moves from bots to agents will bring about…
Read MoreTwo weeks ago, we examined the transformation of higher education in the next five years. Today, we look at how this transformation will shift the emphasis of our teaching. As with the prior column, this week’s thesis evolves out of the Zoom Keynote to the Rethink AI Conference, sponsored in part by the International Academy…
Read MoreStudents Want Online Learning Options Post-Pandemic (Inside Higher Ed)
When colleges switched to emergency remote instruction last year, some online learning advocates feared the hasty transition would leave students with a negative impression of online learning. While more pre-pandemic online courses resulted from months of careful planning and significant financial investment, few instructors enjoyed these luxuries last spring. Despite the challenges and shortcomings of…
Global Digital Badges Market (2021 to 2026) – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (Yahoo!Finance)
Dublin, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The “Digital Badges Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 – 2026)” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering. The digital badges market is expected to register a CAGR of 22.5% during the forecast period (2021 – 2026). A Digital Badge signifies the accomplishments or skills for its holder and…
Special for UPCEA members: Free PCO Pro course enrollment
I’m pleased to inform you of a special offer for our institutional members, in thanks for your loyalty and commitment to UPCEA during the pandemic. Our new professional development courses and certificates have been enthusiastically endorsed by participants. Students have appreciated the opportunity to learn from leaders in the profession, network with colleagues across…
Nearly Half of Faculty Say Pandemic Changes to Teaching Are Here to Stay (Campus Technology)
In a recent survey, the majority of faculty (71 percent) reported that their teaching in Fall 2020 was “very different” or included a “number of changes” compared to pre-pandemic times. And almost half (47 percent) felt those changes would remain in place post-pandemic. That’s according to Cengage‘s third Digital Learning Pulse Survey, conducted by Bay View Analytics in partnership…
The tagline for Convergence, Credential Innovation in Higher Education, raises two important questions: First, what kind of credentials are we talking about? Is the scope of credentials unlimited, blue sky, or confined to incremental changes on the margins of the status quo? And second, who is leading that innovation, and what do they need to…
Read MoreWe are pleased to share the foreword by UPCEA CEO Bob Hansen from the newly released Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education. The guidebook, now available from Routledge in paperback, hardback, and eBook formats, provides a comprehensive framework for today’s online learning leaders. Learn more and purchase…
Read MoreStudent success starts with the right conversation. By uniting data, technology, and human connection, institutions can shift from reactive outreach to proactive engagement that strengthens trust, equity, and long-term retention. Every Student Is a Story, Not a Segment “On the other side of every data point, every phone number, every email address, there’s a person…
Read MoreSearch behavior has evolved, and so has the path to enrollment. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews shape how people gather information, verify details, and form opinions. For higher education marketers, that means program visibility depends on showing up wherever students look for answers, not only in search results but across…
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